Desert Island Desks: Douglas Taylor, Principal, Unispace
Douglas is Principal at Unispace, working across the European region. He joined Unispace’s London studio having worked as an Associate Director, Project Leader and Workplace Commercial Lead across clients such as Land Securities, Derwent London, The Crown Estate and Diageo. Here’s what Doug would bring with him on his elongated desert retreat.
LEATHERMAN
I was gifted my Leatherman almost 20 years ago now – and I use it all the time. It’s helped me out in plenty of interesting situations!
CATERHAM 620R
I am a true petrolhead. If I’m not at a track day with friends, I can be found in Germany at the Nürburgring. I’d have to build myself a track around the island, and would have to take the Caterham.
HAMMOCK
Chilling out in a massive hammock on a desert island, listening to the sound of the waves lapping on the sand, would be bliss. If I didn’t have one, I’d have to try and build one.
A DOG
We have a mixed collie and gun dog called Kimi. He is incredibly smart (and soppy), but would be a great companion and hopefully could catch some food!
CAST IRON SKILLET
You can cook almost anything with one of these. From cooking a slow curry, to barbecuing steak. I’m not sure if it’s my cooking or the flavour cooked into the pan, but every time I use it, the taste gets better.
KINDLE
I love to read – and pretty much read anything. Day to day, I usually have an audiobook going, but with all the free time I will have on the desert island, I’d load that kindle up.
Tracks for the jukebox
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Samurai – Jazztronik
This is my motivational track. When this is on, it helps me get going with whatever I need to do.
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Sky, Can you Feel Me
Raphael Saadiq. Kelly, my wife, introduced me to Raphael when we first started dating 12 years ago. His voice has rested my soul ever since.
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To Build a Home – The Cinematic Orchestra.
A song that grounds me to the importance of my family – Kelly, Scarlett, Constance and Farron. My rocks.
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Ernie – Fat Freddy’s Drop
My friends, Ben and Angie, introduced me to them in NZ years back. Whenever I listen to them I am teleported back to that magical part of the world.
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Ghostwriter – RJD2
My old house buddies, Paul and Zoe, enveloped me with a plethora of unknown artists to me back in the early noughties: DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, UNKLE, Lemon Jelly. I have them to thank for my now eclectic ear.
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Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
As a kid growing up, my parents always had music playing at home and in the car. Dire Straits was their go-to tape, closely followed by Phil Collins and Fleetwood Mac.
